


Drift Away

by SarahPunk



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Gen, Post-Apocalypse, kpop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:39:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7698652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahPunk/pseuds/SarahPunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Split up during a nuclear fallout, the three units plan to reunite themselves as Seventeen. Overcoming obstacles to reunite, will all of Seventeen see each other again? Or will they meet their demise?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!! I have a tumblr and a masterlist. On here, http://sarahrockinpunk.tumblr.com/works , I have a lot more work. I also take requests! Happy Reading everyone!!

HIP HOP UNIT POV

This was it…time to fight.

The boys were talking themselves up, trying to hide the fear they felt. All of them had been split from the rest of the group when the world went into chaos. The last image of the world they once knew, was being split up by military forces when the bombs started to fall. There was no time to band together. There was no time.

When the bomb was dropped, the group was split up for various reasons. The hip hop unit were on their way to the studio to record for the new album. On the way there, the military evacuated the roads and nearby buildings. The boys kept close to one another, and ended up in a bunker by themselves. They thought it would be a quick thing, having faced drills like this before, but it would be years later when things started to “normalize”. Everyone branched out and started to make little communities, but the hip hop unit made the bunker their homestead.

It was a smart choice for the group. Many small communities were raided shortly after being established. Being above ground made them targets, and with the lack of defense, they were quickly overran. Having established their homestead underground, they were often ignored. They were smart about their interactions too. Only to resurface when they needed supplies. They had little to know outside contacts, and the outside knew little to nothing about them.

Sitting in an underground bunker, the hip hop unit devised a plan.

“Vernon, you’ll be in charge of finding usable resources. Like clean water, food, weapons..ect…” S.Coups said.

“What happens if he gets attacked?” Mingyu said pointing to Vernon.

“Attacked….” Vernon trailed off.

“You’re right. Mingyu, you’ll go with Vernon. Wonwoo, you’ll come with me.” S.Coups stood up and started to hand out the weapons.

They didn’t have much. It was only them in the bunker, and it was poorly stocked for defense. Sure, the food was well stocked, but it eventually ran out. Being in a bunker for years, with four young adult boys, the food goes fast. The water system was extremely advanced however. It filtered the outside water, giving them an unlimited water source.

“Why am I always the one to get the pitchfork?” Vernon said as S.Coups handed him the pitchfork.

“Because, you’re good with it.” S.Coups teased.

“I guess I’ll just be using my good looks as a weapon?” Mingyu said in response to being ignored by S.Coups.

“You did get us a good deal on trade the other day with those looks of yours.” S. Coups said laughing, handing Mingyu a bat.

“You know, I think that lady wanted some Mingyu love.” Wonwoo said laughing.

“Aishh…you stop.” Mingyu pointed playfully at Wonwoo. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful!” 

“Okay, okay. Calm down children.” S.Coups intervened. “The day is quickly dying out, we need to go out and find things before sun down.”

“Maybe someone should stay here and keep watch, just in case someone shows up?” Vernon said, wanting to stay behind.

“I think the most dangerous thing to do is to leave anyone here alone. So you’re going with Mingyu. Sorry kid.” S.Coups said apologetically. “Now, lets go find something to survive on!”

The group all left the bunker, covering it with brush after locking the latch. As Mingyu and Vernon went one direction, S.Coups and Wonwoo went the other. Weapons in hand, and instincts on high alert, the guys searched the wastelands in hopes they would be lucky enough to not go home empty handed. They also had an inkling, a shimmer of hope, that on this mission they would find the rest of their group.


	2. Chapter 2

Performance Team POV

“Do as I say, or you die.” Jun held the gun pointed at his next victim.

“Please…” The innocent person said as he scrambled for words, “Don’t hurt me. I have a family. Here take this.”

The guy handed over his pack. Satisfied, Jun took the pack and ran off, leaving the guy unscathed.

This was the life the performance unit had come to know. They were raiders. They made a living off of the hard work of others, and survived that way too. Having built a reputation of notoriety, they used this to their advantage. The diamond emblem on their body armor told the entire outside world that they were not a force to reckon with. Even if their faces weren’t known, that emblem sure was.

People coward in their presence, and seldom tried to negotiate when being raided. People knew it wasn’t worth it. These guys killed. They didn’t hold back, nor had sympathy for anyone. For, they had to survive too. The end justified the means, both for them and the rest of the raiders.

The performance team wasn’t always this successful. When the nuclear fallout began to happen, they were evacuated from their dorm without explanation. Thrown into a bunker with about a dozen other people, the rumors began to brew. Some thought it was the North invading. Others thought it was a government coup d'etat, meeting the fate of the military. Unbeknownst to everyone however, was how dire their situation was going to become.

The first few days in the bunker were tolerable. Everyone had food and water. The essentials to stay strong and healthy, but it wouldn’t last. People started to grow paranoid, accusing people of stealing rations and even worse accusations. Tensions grew uncontrollable. Jun would make his first kill during this time. Killing a deranged man who accused Hoshi of stealing his food ration. A baseball bat to the head would end the dispute, and many others in the bunker.

This would go on, until the only renaming members in the bunker were the performance team. For five months, this would continue. Until one day the team decided it was time to leave, taking their chances of radiation poisoning, to go out and find livable necessities. Ever since then, they have been unstoppable.

“What were you able to get?” Dino asked as Jun walked into their shack.

“Just a pack of clothes and a few bottles of water.” Jun laid the pack on the table Dino and The8 were sitting at.

Jun walked over to a sleeping Hoshi and woke him up. “It’s your turn to guard the post.”

“Already?” A groggy Hoshi moaned. “I literally just fell asleep.”

“The two oldest have to take care of the younger ones. So get up.” Jun slapped Hoshi on his shoulder and went back to the table.

The shack wasn’t much, but it was home. The boys were able to build something big enough of the four of them, and build a defense to keep the unwanted out. They were even self sufficient, having their own garden and two head of cattle to help them survive. Of course, everyone had their place. Even though it was Jun who took initiative when things got dirty, Hoshi was the leader. Anything that happened in the shack, or out in the world, had to have approval from Hoshi.

“So Jun, who’d you take this from?” The8 asked, pulling out the contents of the pack.

“Some guy.” Jun was vague.

“From the looks of it, this person had small children.” Dino held up a baby cloth and booties.

“I dunno.” Jun didn’t look up, he avoided eye contact.

“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t take from families, Jun.” Hoshi said, making everyone jump.

“Everyone has a family out there. Everyone has someone they care for. That rule is redundant.” Jun said under his breath. 

“It wasn’t redundant when you saved my life.” Hoshi said. The room had a sudden chill, making The8 and Dino shiver in response.

“That’s different…” Jun looked up, his eyebrows furrowed.

“No, it’s not different. Jun, you can’t just attack random people. What if that person had a starving baby? Or what if they were helping a person who was in labor? What are they going to do now that their supplies were stolen by some psycho with a broken gun?” Hoshi was growing angry.

“Then you go out there and collect things, and I stay and guard post.” Jun got up and stormed out of the shack.

“Well…that went well.” Dino said, standing up. “I have to go weed the garden.

“Me too! Wait up!” The8 ran after Dino.

Hoshi stood there collecting his thoughts. It wasn’t smart for him to get upset. Yes, the situation made him upset, but the action did not. Jun was only helping, and Hoshi knew that. If it weren’t for Jun, they would be dead. Hoshi knew that he needed to apologize.

Walking outside, Hoshi could smell the death in the air. Even after all of these years, the fallout was still thick. The sky, forever colored with a strange yellow hue, was hidden by gray clouds. The sun hadn’t had a good shine in weeks, and it was affecting the agriculture. The food was quickly running out, and the panic was real. Hoshi did all he could to keep people calm, but even the panic was getting to him.

In the distance, Hoshi could see Jun fixing the fence. He slowly walked up to him, hoping that Jun had calmed down a little.

“Jun, I’m sorry.” Hoshi said, bending down to help Jun.

“How do you think it feels?” Jun dropped his tools and looked at Hoshi.

“How does what feel?” Hoshi studied Jun’s face. He was tired, and aging well past his years due to the stress.

“Taking things from people who need it, for people who need it just as much. It’s not doing any good. Look around, it’s killed or be killed. If people banded together it wouldn’t be that way.” Jun was still upset.

“Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. By nature, humans grow greedy. Eventually even the most successful settlement will crumble due to a persons hunger for power.” Hoshi took a deep breath. “I know it’s hard. I could never do the things you do. I am very thankful for everything you do. We all are.”

“Do you think we’ll ever see them again?” The sudden change in Jun’s tone was something Hoshi knew all too well. Anytime a conversation ended with the group in name, Jun brought up the rest of Seventeen.

“The best we can do is keep looking. They didn’t go far. They’re looking for us too.” Hoshi smiled reassuringly.

“Yeah, well, let’s hope they come alone. I don’t know how much more I can take of this tough guy facade.” Jun laughed to himself.

Both Hoshi and Jun looked over the land that they had claimed. They sighed and smiled at each other. It had been a long time since Hoshi had seen Jun smile a real smile.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, letting the tensions ease away. Before the tensions were completely gone, screams echoed out. They were coming from the garden.

It was Dino.

“You get the bat, I got the knife.” Hoshi ran towards the screams.

Jun started to run towards the shack. What he saw on the horizon, made him stop dead in his tracks.


	3. Chapter 3

Vocal Unit POV

“Please, everyone settle down.” Woozi said over the crowd.

The vocal unit were growing in popularity. They had gained power over the people of the neighboring communities by giving hope to people through motivational speaking. It had turned into a religion. The vocal unit being worshiped like gods, only to gain immense power without knowing what to do with it.

“Joshua will be speaking in a moment. Before we can get to his speech, I need to address some things with you. Next week we will be taking a hiking trip to the lake. It still needs cleaned, and we need volunteers to help clean it. There is a sign up sheet in the lodge if anyone is interested.” Woozi flipped his note card. “Tomorrow night will be our weekly dance night. The theme is Pre-Apocalyptic. The dress code is highly encouraged.”

Woozi stopped his speech when Jeonghan touched him on the shoulder. He whispered something into Woozi’s ear, making him nod. “Okay everyone, Joshua is ready to begin his speech.”

The crowd began to cheer as Joshua took his place at the podium. He smiled and began to speak.

“Hello everyone and welcome. I am so glad that you were able to break away from your schedules to be here tonight.” He paused and took a deep breath. “It has come to my attention that our security system was breached last night. I was reported this information right after it happened. To my surprise, nothing was damaged. I believe the raid was just a test of our defenses.” The crowd gasped.

“Please settle.” Joshua motioned for the crowd to quiet down. “While this is a terrifying thing to happen to us, we can prevent it from happening again. The raiders are a plague to this nation, and we will be the ones to eradicate this illness from our word.” People began to cheer. “We need to come together to bring this to an end.” Joshua spoke over the cheers.

“We are going to strengthen our fort, and build up our stockpile. We are going to rage war with these raiders, and make them pay for the terror they have burdened everyone around them with.” Joshua waved at the crowd and stepped down from the podium.

“Are you sure that was the best thing to say to everyone? People are still freaked out, and no one is sure if it was the raiders or not.” Jeonghan said into Joshua’s ear. The crowd was still cheering.

“I’m positive it was them.” Joshua smiled and waved once more, before turning around and walking into his cabin. Jeonghan followed.

“Joshua, nothing was stolen. Nothing was even ransacked. Raiders don’t just come in to see what we have and leave. They raid…that’s where they get their name from.” Jeonghan was growing angry. He wasn’t happy at what Joshua just did.

“Don’t question me Jeonghan. I’ve kept everyone alive so far. Those people trust me.” Joshua sat down at his desk.

“No Joshua, they worship you.” Jeonghan hissed.

“Guys, now isn’t the time to argue.” Woozi said as he entered the room. “While I don’t believe it was the raiders, I do agree we need to fortify. How else are we to protect ourselves?”

“Raging war onto people who have nothing to do with our problems, isn’t the way to go about it. It makes things worse for us.” Jeonghan said.

“Calm down. Right now we’re going to just fix the damage that was done to our fence, and enforce the surrounding areas. If we are faced with raiders, then we will deal with it. But until then, my orders are as stands.” Joshua was stern.

“I’ll corral the others and begin on the wall.” Woozi said as he exited the room.

“I have a job for you Jeonghan. It’s an easy job, but it’s a big one.” Joshua looked at Jeonghan.

“What’s that?” Jeonghan sat down in front of Joshua’s desk.

“There’s this fort a few miles east of here. People have reported back saying that people are living there, self sufficient, and that they might be raiders. I want you to spy on them.” Joshua said, quietly to Jeonghan.

Agitated, Jeonghan stood up and yelled, “It just kills you doesn’t it Joshua!”

“What kills me?” Joshua stood up in response.

“The fact that there are people out there that don’t need your help. Or the fact that they have survived, successfully, on their own without living here.” Jeonghan began to walk out in anger.

“If you walk out, I’ll send someone else. The results might not be in your favor.” Joshua was threatening.

Jeonghan turned around and scowled at Joshua. “What happens if I say no?”

“I send someone else in your place, and you’ll be made an example of in front of the village.” Joshua’s tone was getting more sinister.

“Fine. I’ll do it. When do you want me to go?”

“Now would be a good time.” Joshua smiled like nothing had happened.

“I’ll take DK with me then.”

Jeonghan left the room before Joshua could make him any more angry. He wasn’t happy about this. The fact that Joshua wanted to take over an independent settlement for his own personal gain, made Jeonghan sick to his stomach.

The vocal unit hadn’t been in charge of this village for long, but what time they had been there, it had gone to Joshua’s head. He was beginning to scare everyone. He wasn’t the same person who had entered the bomb shelter. It could have been the environment, but Jeonghan was skeptical.

The past few weeks had been really tense among the boys, and it was considerably tense for Jeonghan. He felt like he was the only level headed person there anymore, and it was bothersome to think that way. Being considerate with the rest of the group members opinions, was how Jeonghan aimed to be. Lately, it was becoming harder to deal with the irrational decisions the group was making.

Now that Joshua wanted Jeonghan to spy on innocent people, it was crossing his mind to leave. The thought killed Jeonghan, but he knew that he couldn’t keep this up. The facade of being okay with brainwashing people was quickly crumbling down, and he was going to act upon this.

He had to warn these people.

 

Even if it cost him his life.


	4. Chapter 4

Hip Hop Unit POV

 

Despite the wreckage from the nuclear fallout, the land was still very flourished. It took a lot of energy and effort to navigate to new places. The guys always wanted to travel together, to ensure no one would be left behind, but it was too time consuming. It was S.Coups who decided splitting off into pairs would be best for time. Of course, the rest of the hip hop unit went along with it, not really thinking too much into it. It would end up to be a huge mistake.

Mingyu and Vernon trudged through the thick brush, panting from the heat.

“If the radiation doesn’t kill us, the heat will.” Mingyu said, taking a seat on a nearby tree stump.

“I think it’s even hotter today than it was yesterday.” Vernon wiped the sweat from his brow.

“We need to hurry. We didn’t bring enough water to go any further.” Mingyu took a drink. He quickly stopped noticing their only bottle of water was almost empty.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything anyways.” Vernon said, leaning up against a tree.

The guys looked around at the land surrounding them. It was mostly fallen trees and destroyed houses. Nothing that could be salvaged and taken back to the bunker.

Across the forest, S.Coups and Wonwoo were finding treasures of their own.

“Coups! Look at this!” Wonwoo ran over to Coups with a broken fishing rod in hand.

“Look at that!” S.Coups took the rod out of his hand and studied it. “It’s a clean break too, an easy fix.” S.Coups gave Wonwoo a pat on the back and went back to searching.

The guys searched for about another twenty minutes before they reunited to compare what they had found.

“I only found the rod.” Wonwoo said disappointed.

“It’s okay, I didn’t find anything.” S.Coups said reassuringly.

“So we go back?” Wonwoo was tried, and it showed in his voice.

“Yeah, it’s getting dark. I don’t want an unwanted guest following us back to our safe haven.” Motioning to follow, S.Coups began to walk back to the bunker.

The two walked about a mile before coming to a halt. They heard rustling in the distance, and followed the sound. What they saw made them both gasp.

“Do as I say, or you die.” The dark figure was hovered a frightened man laying on the ground. Pointed at his head, was a gun.

“Please…” The innocent person said as he scrambled for words, “Don’t hurt me. I have a family. Here take this.” 

The figure took the pack the man held out for him. Quickly looking at it, the figure turned and ran away.

Huddled down into the thick brush, S.Coups and Wonwoo were hidden out of sight. They noticed a Diamond emblem on the vest of the figure as he ran past them, unaware someone had discovered his identity. The identity given away by the symbol both S.Coups and Wonwoo knew all too well. The Carat.

“We need to get back to the bunker now.” S.Coups whispered to Wonwoo.

In awe, Wonwoo nodded. The two of them got up and ran as fast as they could to the bunker.

Back at the bunker, sitting at the table, Vernon began to plan what him and Mingyu were going to fix for dinner. Mingyu was the main cook of the group, but Vernon pitched in a lot to help him with the work load.

“What about kimchi fried rice?” Vernon asks as he goes through their supplies.

“That sounds good. We have a bunch of kimchi.” Mingyu was starting a fire.

The two of them worked in silence. That silence would be interrupted by a falling S.Coups, panting out of breath.

“Coups! What happened?!” Vernon got up and helped Coups off the floor. Behind him was an out of breath Wonwoo.

“We saw something.” Coups was still out of breath. He pulled Wonwoo into the bunker, and closed the lid locking it.

“What did you see?” Mingyu walked over to see what was going on.

“We saw the one of our own, robbing someone.” Wonwoo said, sitting his bag on the table.

“What?” Mingyu and Vernon said at the same time.

“I think it was Jun…” Coups trailed off. 

“How do you know?” Mingyu was concerned.

“I recognized his voice. He also had the diamond on his vest.” Coups was still visibly shaken. He couldn’t come to terms with a member of his own group being a raider.

“He’s with the raiders?” Vernon sat down, in shock from the news.

“I think he is the raiders.” S. Coups said, looking at everyone with a look of terror.

The air in the bunker fell cold. Everyone sat there in awe from the news. No one knew what to say, or what to believe. But they all knew, they needed to get to Jun, before someone else did.


	5. Chapter 5

Performance Team POV

Jun stood there, frozen. Coming into his range of sight was a figure, running in what seemed to be slow motion. Jun became overcome with emotion when he realized who it was. It was DK.

“HYUNG!!” DK yelled as he ran towards Jun.

The two of them embraced in an emotional hug, followed by uncontrollable tears. Pulling away from each other, they studied each other. It had been months since they had seen anyone outside of their units, and the sight was shocking.

“You’ve aged so much.” Jun said tracing the lines on DK’s face.

“You too, you’re gray!” DK laughed as he pointed to Jun’s streak of gray hair.

The emotional reunion was interrupted by the continuous screams from Dino.

“Dino.” Jun said to himself and took off towards the screams.

Jun ran to the garden, where Dino and The8 were doing their chores. To his surprise, Dino wasn’t screaming from danger, he was screaming from joy. Hoshi, Dino, and The8 were embracing Jeonghan in a tight hug. All of them were crying.

“Jeonghan…” Jun said to himself, taking a few steps closer. He was in awe, afraid that he was dreaming.

“It’s me Jun.” Jeonghan smiled, pulling Jun into the hug.

All of them embraced each other, taking in the moment like it would be ripped away if they let go.

“We should go inside, before people follow the noise we’re making and find us.” Hoshi said pulling away from the group.

Everyone nodded, and followed Hoshi into the shack. The six of them sat in silence for a while, just taking in the moment. No one wanted to move, avoiding any possible chance that this was just a dream. Breaking the silence, Jeonghan began to speak.

“It’s unfortunate what has happened.” He was very stern in his voice. It wasn’t like him to be so harsh, getting the nickname angel by the group, he was always soft spoken. “I don’t want you to feel guilty for what happened, us getting split up.”

“No, no one should feel guilty. This is beyond our doing.” Hoshi said, saddened that the new environment had changed Jeonghan. Taking a deep breath, Hoshi addressed the issue. “You’ve changed Jeonghan.”

“I’m afraid we all have Hoshi.” Jeonghan’s face softened at Hoshi’s comment.

“That’s true, we all have. Some of us are ashamed of what we have become.” Jun was overcome with emotion. It had been eating away at him for a while, the fact that he had caused so much fear in the world.

“And some have turned into a sociopath. All in the name of survival.” Jeonghan’s eyes filled with mixed emotions. The mood in the room suddenly changed.

“What’s going on?” Hoshi asked, unsure of what was to follow.

“It’s Joshua, he’s changed….” Jeonghan and DK looked at each other, and then looked at the rest of the group. “He needs an intervention or something.”

“Why?” Jun asked hesitantly.

“He’s leading a community of followers. I don’t like this word, but it’s a cult. And as of yesterday, he declared war on the raiders.” Taking a deep breath, Jeonghan looked sympathetically at Jun.

“I can’t believe it.” Jun said with anger. “I’ve never raided a settlement of any kind. Where would he even get this idea?”

“A few days ago, our community’s security was infiltrated. Nothing was stolen, and nothing was destroyed. It’s very suspicious, and it has everyone on edge.” Jeonghan spoke softer than before. “He needed someone to blame, people were depending on him. The raiders have a notorious reputation out there. It seemed logical to him.”

“Well it’s not right, and we didn’t do anything.” Jun was getting even more angry hearing this.

“I know. That’s why I’m here. I’m sure if he knows that you’re the ones living here, he’ll know he made a mistake jumping to conclusions.” Jeonghan was trying to soothe the situation.

“It would be nice to see them, even if it’s not everyone. Maybe we can even create a search party to look for the hip hop unit?” Dino said, quickly shifting the mood.

“He’s right.” DK said excitedly. “We have hundreds of people back at camp that can help. They can’t be too far from here. Especially if you guys have been this close for so long.”

“They’re right.” Hoshi said. “I’ll go back with them. We need people to stay here. Jun will you watch over the farm?”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Jun was relieved he didn’t have to leave the young ones alone.

“Then it’s settled.” Jeonghan said, standing up. “I think we should get going, there’s not much daylight left.”

Jeonghan and DK walked out the door. Hoshi walked to the doorway, but before leaving, he looked back at Dino, Jun, and The8. “Keep them safe.” Hoshi said to Jun.

“I will. Even if it means I dye trying.” Jun playfully smiled at Hoshi.

“I’ll be back soon.” Hoshi turned and left the shack.

The three remaining members sat quietly. Jun looked at the younger members of his group with hopeful eyes. “We’ll find everyone. I promise.”

The boys nodded in despair. They wanted so badly to have hope, but they had been let down too many times before. The knowledge of Joshua’s newly obtained role also didn’t settle well with them. It left a bad taste in their mouths. They knew something bad was going to come from it.

It was only a matter of time before they know what it was.


	6. Chapter 6

Mingyu POV

Flahsback…

Scared and alone, Mingyu ran with all of his being. He was wounded just below the knee, and each step he took ripped the wound wider. His leg was growing numb, and his vision was becoming blurry. Falling to his knees, Mingyu passed out from the loss of blood. Shock began to settle in, putting him into a deep sleep.

Coming in and out of consciousness, visions of people running past him flooded Mingyu’s hazy sight. He couldn’t make out what was happening. Everyone was in a hurry, he couldn’t remember why they were in a hurry. Along with his sight, his hearing was like that of a tunnel. He tried to pick himself up, to continue to run, but he kept falling back down. He was too weak to run, and too weak to defend himself. With this, Mingyu accepted his fate. Laying there on the ground, Mingyu closed his eyes, and drifted off into the darkness.

Present Day….

Waking up from a dead sleep, Mingyu shot up in his bed covered in a cold sweat. Gasping for air, Mingyu looked around the bunker to familiarize himself with where he was. The night terrors were back, and they were back with a vengeance. It had been a while since Mingyu had flashbacks of his near brush with death. They had subsided, only to return when the news of Jun being a raider was revealed.

S.Coups had been planning a way to get to Jun without drawing attention to the area. Mingyu was voted as one of the people to go with Coups to find Jun. Everyone voted for him because he was taller, and stronger than the others. Sending Vernon or Wonwoo could have devastating results if they encountered a bad situation. There was only one problem with this decision, Mingyu didn’t approve.

Even though he was tall and strong, Mingyu wasn’t healthy. He had a limp leg, a result of a bone shattering shot to the knee. It happened one chaotic day just after the clear was given to leave the shelters. He was out, scavenging, when he was approached by a person in head to toe body armor, embroidered by a diamond emblem on the chest. At first, Mingyu didn’t think anything of it. A simple, “he’s with the military” crossed his mind. That all changed when the mysterious figure pulled out his gun and shot Mingyu in the knee.

Other than the memory of being shot, and the few minutes of running, Mingyu didn’t remember much past that. Vernon would recount the details to him a few days later after he would wake up. Mingyu’s life was saved by the hip hop unit. They had picked him up, and taken him back to the bunker, and quickly cauterized the wound. The bullet still remained in Mingyu’s leg, fused in the bone that grew incorrectly into place. This gave Mingyu a distinctive limp, and made him dangerously slow.

It wasn’t the mere recount of S.Coups and Wonwoo’s encounter with Jun that triggered these flashbacks. It was the description of Jun that S.Coups had recounted. Jun had fit the description of the person who had shot Mingyu. It terrified him. What if Jun was the one who shot him? Mingyu couldn’t shake the thought since hearing the story. It was haunting his mind.

“Mingyu, are you okay?” A groggy Vernon said from the darkness.

“Uhh..” Mingyu snapped back into reality. “Yeah, I just had a bad dream, that’s all.” 

“Are you sure?” Vernon could tell by the tone of Mingyu’s voice that he wasn’t okay.

“Yeah, just go back to sleep.” Mingyu laid back down and looked up at the ceiling.

Slowly, he drifted back to sleep.  
image

Joshua POV

Flashback…

He came into power too fast. All he wanted was to establish a settlement with his unit, but when people from the out land started to seek refuge with his group, he took charge. It was a lot of pressure, but Joshua was strong. Until Pledis came to recruit him.

This was a strange organization, one of secrecy and mystery. Everyone knew of them, but no one knew them. It was rumored that if you were recruited, you never returned home again. Speculation was high on that it was a government power, one trying to somehow control the people. They were also said to be the ones who declared war, dropping bombs on their own. Of course, all of this was speculation.

They came in the middle of the night, taking Joshua out of his bed. Putting a bag over his head, and restrained his hands. They took Joshua to an unknown location. Sitting him in the middle of an empty room, they removed the bag.

“Joshua, you have been summoned by Pledis. If you do not accept this offer, you will have to be silenced for reasons related to our exposure.” A faceless voice echoed off the walls of the empty room.

“W-What do you want?” Joshua was shaken, terrified of what was to come.

“We need you to take leadership in our new settlement. It’s imperative that you take this opportunity we have given you.” The voice seemed to be getting louder.

“I’m not a leader. I don’t know why you want me to do anything.” Spinning around to see the face of the person speaking to him, Joshua was only greeted with darkness.

“But you are Joshua. Do you not see the following you’ve gained? People have spoken of your settlement for miles around. They come with high expectations.” Footsteps began to echo, the sound getting louder as if they were walking closer to Joshua.

“What do you want me to do? I was only trying to help people in need.” A bright light suddenly turned on, making Joshua squint and block the bright light from his face.

“Your orders will come with time.” Something was thrown in front of Joshua. “Until then, you’ll need this.”

Joshua picked up the object. It was a full set of body armor, from head to toe, black like the room he was in. Looking up in the direction of which the outfit came, Joshua’s face was twisted with confusion.

“It’s for your protection.” The voice said, a little softer than before.

Sitting there, not knowing what to do, he began to put on the armor. He had everything on, except the chest piece. The diamond emblem made him stop, thinking about how ridiculous something so delicate looked on something so ominous. 

Looking up with the chest piece in his hand, he asked, “What is the diamond for?”

“It is how you will identify others like you.” The voice said.

“Others like me…” Joshua said to himself.

Sitting there, a million things ran through Joshua’s mind at that moment. The one thing that haunted him though, was what they wanted him to do.

There was only one way to find out.

Standing up, Joshua pulled the chest piece over his head and strapped it down. “I’m ready.”

“Good decision Joshua.” The voice said. “Just walk through that door and we’ll begin.”

Standing there, the lights in the room turned on. Joshua looked around the room, finding the door. In what felt like slow motion, he walked through the door. What was on the other side of it, struck him to his core.


	7. Chapter 7

Jun POV

Flashback…

He was running. The group hadn’t stayed at one place for too long. When asked why the sudden urge to move, Jun would give the simple, “It’s easier to kill a sitting duck than it is to kill a moving one.”

Of course, this was always a weird response, but that was Jun. He was vague, and elusive as to what he meant, but the group didn’t read too much into it. But, unbeknownst to the group, Jun had a dark secret. A dark secret that he was extremely ashamed of.

“I believe you two know each other?” The booming voice said as Joshua entered the room.

Jun and Joshua made emotional eye contact. “Joshua you’re alive!”

Getting up to hug Joshua, Jun was pulled down by the chains holding him to the seat.

“You need to leave before it’s too late.” Jun said, with a hopeless tone.

“Take a seat Joshua.” The voice said.

Complying, Joshua sat down, soon to be shackled himself.

“You’re a goner.” Jun said to Joshua with disappointment.

Upon closer inspection, Joshua noticed that Jun had been badly beaten.

“What happened to you?” Joshua asked in shock.

“SILENCE!” The voice yelled, making the two of them jump. “Sit, and do not speak.”

A flicker sounded above their heads, followed by a video that began to play. The white wall in front of them served as the screen. It was a video Jun knew, one that had been played repeatedly. The mysterious voice had made Jun watch it several times daily, and if he looked away, he would be restrained to only look forward. It was a brainwashing mechanism. Little did the voice know, it wasn’t working on Jun, it was creating a monster.

————————-

Vocal Unit POV

Joshua sat behind his desk, looking out over the camp. His office had the best view of any room on the compound. It was so he could watch both the workers in the fields, and to make sure no outside forces were invading. As he looked over the fields, he noticed that Jeonghan and DK were back, and with a friend.

“Woozi, they’re back.” Joshua said as he quickly stood up and made his way to greet them.

Joshua, along with Woozi and Seungkwan, stood at the gate waiting for the two to enter. As they entered their sight, everyone realized who the friend was, it was Hoshi. Joshua looked at the others with wide eyes, and without hesitation, they all ran to embrace Hoshi. 

“Hoshi!” Everyone yelled as they embraced him in a hug.

“I missed you guys so much.” Hoshi said as he returned their embraces.

Quickly pulling away, Joshua looked at Hoshi with wide worried eyes. “The others…” He asked, afraid of the answer.

“They’re back at the farm, safe.” Hoshi smiled reassuringly.

“I think this calls for a celebration!” Woozi said, grabbing Hoshi’s hand leading him into Joshua’s office.

Everyone followed, crowding into Joshua’s small office. Joshua politely pushed his way past everyone, taking a seat behind his desk. “Hoshi, please sit. Would you like anything to drink?”

“No thank you.” Hoshi said, taking a seat. He was looking around, astonished by what he saw. “DK wasn’t kidding when he said there were a lot of people here.”

“Yeah, he have a lot of people living here. They kind of just showed up, and over time, word got around this was a safe place.” Joshua took in a deep breath.

“I know, this is a lot to take in.” Hoshi said, looking around at his long lost members. “It’s a huge comfort knowing that the majority of us are safe.”

“The majority of us…” Joshua said in horror.

“Yeah…the rest of us.” Hoshi hung his head.

“Are the hip hop unit…” Joshua couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I’m not sure. We’ve been looking for them since all of this happened. No sign yet. But no sign is a good sign.” Forcing a smile, Hoshi looked at DK and Woozi.

“We’ll find them.” Woozi said, reassuringly.

“Yeah! We have tons of people out there, we’ll find them!” DK said, smiling.

“They’re right. With all of this man power, we can cover so much land in very little time. I’m sure they’re close by. They aren’t the type to stray away from what they know.” Joshua said. “I’ll assemble a team now.”

Joshua stood up, and walked out to his podium. Woozi quickly appeared behind him, along with Jeonghan. The three of them stood in front of the assembling crowd, looking across the sea of people.

“Everyone, we have a favor to ask of you.” Joshua began. “It is imperative we begin the search first thing in the morning. Our team might be in danger.”

The crowd began to talk among themselves, breaking out into a chant that sent shivers down Hoshi’s spine.

Carat! Carat!

The crowd began to chant. Hoshi began to walk backwards, trying to step away from the situation. Jeonghan turned around, and joined Hoshi.

“It gets worse.” Jeonghan grabbed Hoshi’s arm, forcing him to stop.

“I need to go back to the farm.” Frantic, Hoshi tried to wiggle away like a trapped animal.

“No, you’re not leaving.” Jeonghan quickly moved behind Hoshi, pinning his hands behind his back. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”

Hoshi began to struggle, confused as to what was happening. Pushing him forward, Jeonghan began to lead Hoshi towards what looked like a jail cell.

“You need to stay here.” Jeonghan pushed Hoshi into the cell, quickly closing the door behind him.

Hoshi turned around, looking Jeonghan in his eyes. They were emotionless and black, not like the Jeonghan Hoshi once knew.

“You have to stay here. We will collect the others.” Jeonghan turned around and walked away.

Walking back to Joshua, Jeonghan acted like nothing happened.

“Did you take care of him?” Joshua leaned back and whispered into Jeonghan’s ear.

“He won’t be giving us any problems. We can move forward with our plans.” Jeonghan smiled.

“Good.” Joshua paused. “We now need to find Jun.”

The crowd began to chant even louder. The chant echoed the area, making Joshua smile.

“I won’t fail you. I promised you safety, and safety is what you’ll get. We have one raider, now it is time to seize the others.” Joshua’s words invoked a massive eruption from the crowd.


	8. Chapter 8

Hip Hop Unit POV

“Over here….that’s where we saw everything happen.” Coups raced towards the spot both him and Wonwoo witnessed Jun conduct the robbery.

The hip hop unit quickly followed their lead, Mingyu falling slightly behind due to his limp. Vernon slowing his pace, to make sure Mingyu didn’t leave his site.

“We were in that bush right there.” Wonwoo pointed to the shrub next to them.

“Are the footprints still there? Maybe we can follow them back?” Vernon said as he approached the group, Mingyu leaning on him for support.

“I think so…” Coups walked over to the area Jun was standing to see if there were footprints. “It looks like there are. I guess we can follow them to see if they go back to where he lives.”

“Wait…” Mingyu said, out of breath, grabbing Vernon tighter than before. His tall frame was like a blown over tree, barely standing on his own, and Vernon struggling to hold him up.

“I think we need to take a break.” Vernon said, helping Mingyu to sit on the ground. “He’s dead weight, and we’re both dead if I have to carry him all the way.”

“Gee, thanks.” Mingyu said, feeling bad about his disability.

“No Mingyu.” Vernon said, taking a seat next to him. “Don’t take it harshly. It’s true, we’re both dead if we wander off too far.”

“Vernon’s right.” Wonwoo said. “Look, I think it’s best if Coups and I go, and you and Mingyu go back.”

The guys all looked at each other.

“We’ll stay here. Just in case you need help. It’s better to be here, than all the way back in the bunker.” Mingyu said.

“You’re right.” Coups said. “Okay, stay here. Wonwoo and I will go find Jun, and maybe the others.”

Wonwoo took a deep breath, “Well this is it. Let’s go.” Wonwoo started to walk in the direction of the footprints.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to yell for us. We shouldn’t be too far.” Coups nodded to the guys, and followed Wonwoo.

Coups and Wonwoo walked for a while in silence. They were closely listening to their surroundings, making sure no one was going to ambush them.

“So…” Wonwoo said breaking the silence.

“So what?” Coups replied, still attentive to the area around him.

“What exactly is your plan? Jun is a smart guy. He’s not gonna see someone approaching his homestead and not attack. You can’t be logical anymore, you have to act first think later.” Wonwoo started to slow his pace.

“I know, and I’ve been thinking about that.” Coups stopped at looked at Wonwoo. “I have a feeling he’s with the rest of the performance team. Chances are, they don’t wander too far from home, and Jun does the hunting. We can get to them before Jun does. We’re in that way.”

“You’re right..” Wonwoo looked over Coups shoulder, and his eyes widened. “What is that…” Wonwoo pointed to an orange hue creeping through the brush.

“It looks like a fire.” Coups quickly turned and walked towards the bright light.

The two of them approached the end of the woods, looking out over a valley. The sight that they would see would later be answered unexpectedly by a twisted turn of events. Until then, the two of them watched what looked like a farm house, being burned to the ground by an angry mob.

“Look over there!” Wonwoo pointed to three figures running from behind the house into the woods directly behind it.

“Lets go see who that is.” Coups started back into the woods, and towards the direction of the mysterious figures.

Both Coups and Wonwoo ran towards the figures. Catching up to the place where the figures were last seen, the two of them stopped at the sounds of shouting. They couldn’t make anything out, it was muffled and getting louder by the second. Before they knew it, Wonwoo was knocked to the ground by an outside force.

“Are you crazy!” The voice said as he fell on top of Wonwoo.

Wonwoo looked up, his eyes growing wide. The face looking down on him was that of none other than Dino.

“I’d like to have a happy reunion, but, we need to go.” Jun picked both Wonwoo and Dino up from the ground.

Without hesitation, all of them ran away from the sounds of the angry mob. They ran for a mile or so, and stopped. All of them hunched over out of breath, sweat dripping down their faces.

“What was that.” Coups asked out of breath.

“That was an angry mob coming to kill us.” Jun replied.

“We need to seek shelter if they’re after them, because, they’ll come after us.” Wonwoo said to Coups.

“Follow us, we have a bunker close by.” Coups said, motioning for the guys to follow.

The group got back to the bunker, noticing that Vernon and Mingyu had decided to return as well. The reunion was an emotional, and a confusing one. The embraced each other in tight hugs, followed by tears. Realizing that a pivotal member of the performance unit was missing, Mingyu pulled away.

“Where’s Hoshi?” Mingyu asked, afraid of the answer.

“He’s with Joshua.” Jun said, looking at him with dead eyes.

“What’s going on?” Coups took a step forward.

“Let’s go inside, there’s a lot to go over.” Jun said.

The group went inside and closed the hatch behind them. This was it. They were now locked away from the chaos brewing outside, for now anyways.


	9. Chapter 9

Hip Hop Unit POV

“I can’t believe it...” Coups said as he listened to what Jun had to say.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” Jun said in response.

“But a cult...” Coups had a shiver go through his entire body.

“At first, I thought they were just trying to fight a rumor people feared.” Jun paused. “But, I soon learned it was fear mongering to keep people under his control. I watched the place for a few months, to see just what I was messing with. I knew it was the vocal unit for a while, I was just afraid to approach them.”

“You knew they were there all this time and you didn’t tell us?” Dino said, the pain in his voice was strong.

“I’m sorry guys.” Jun turned to the remaining performance unit sitting by him. “I couldn’t say anything. It was too dangerous.”

“We understand hyung.” The8 said, trying to sound strong but the sadness poked through.

“What are we going to do to get him back?” Mingyu asked.

“We need to infiltrate as individuals. They’re expecting a group, but they’re not expecting stealth.” Jun said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “This is the only thing I could save from our farm. It’s a map I was able to draw from scoping out the compound.”

“Man...how much gun fire could one settlement have?” Vernon said as he looked at the map.

“He’s been at this a while. He butters up local settlements, gets them to open a fair trade, and then he ransacks the settlement taking prisoners along the way.” Jun looked around the room. “We need to take them down one by one.”

“Where do we start?” Coups looked at Jun.

“We start with Seungkwan. Every night he walks around the fence checking for weak spots. He’s not armed, and he will be the easiest to get away from the compound.” Jun traced the area of the fence on the paper with his finger.

“He’s not too strong, but I think we might need two guys to get him down.” Jun continued. “I think Mingyu and Coups would be good for that.” Jun looked up.

Both Mingyu and Coups nodded in agreement.

“The second target is Woozi. He’s tiny, and can be easily over powered. He normally wanders around the compound without telling Joshua where he’s going.” Jun pointed to a spot on the map. “He likes to hang out behind the storage unit. It’s the only place people can’t find him. I think he takes naps out there.”

“I can take him.” Vernon said.

“The position is yours.” Jun smiled. “Next will be DK. He shouldn’t be too difficult. He too wanders around randomly. He might be harder to locate, but, once we get him it will be easy. The8 can handle DK.”

“What about Jeonghan and Joshua?” Coups was anxious.

“That’s the challenging part.” Jun sighed. “We can’t get to Joshua without dealing with Jeonghan. They’re always together, and are never seen apart. Jeonghan is a fighter too. Joshua on the other hand, depends on Jeonghan. We have to take down his protection, which is Jeonghan. I have a special plan for that.”

“No one is going to get hurt right?” Coups’s voice cracked.

“That’s not my plan, but, if it happens, it will be their fault.” Jun was being as honest as he could be. He didn’t know how things would play out, but he knew that there was always the possibility of a bad outcome.

“What’s the special plan then? It sounds kind of-of dangerous.” Coups responded.

“It will be, I mean, all of this will be.” Jun looked around to everyone. “My plan is to use Dino as bait. To make him go in through the front, and butter up Joshua. Give him the sob story about our farm being burnt down, and how only he made it out alive. Since Joshua sent that mob to find us, he’ll feel guilt enough to destroy him.”

“That’s all good and everything, but, can Dino handle that?” Vernon added.

“I can. He ruined everything we had, our hard work. I have it in me. I can pull it off.” Dino said. His maturity shining through.

“I’ll go in right after him, so he won’t be alone for long. I want to get Joshua myself.” The hint of revenge rose in Jun’s eyes. Shaking his thoughts, he looked at the group. “It’s a plan then.” Jun smacked his hand on the table. “We start preparing in the morning.”

“We need to rest. Build our strength and energy for the fight ahead of us.” Coups said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Getting up and relocating to their sleeping units, both the hip hop and the performance teams laid down with weary minds. The fight was going to be one of the toughest of their lives.


	10. Chapter 10

Performance Team POV

“Go in and be confident. Don’t let him scare you. He burned down your home. He took that away from you.” Jun said as he outfitted Dino with hidden armor. “This will protect you from any sharp objects. Put your jacket on over it.”

Dino put on his jacket and took a deep breath. Looking around, him and the rest of the united group were hunched down in the bushes. Everyone was focused on the compound that they were about to infiltrate.

“What happens if something goes wrong?” Dino looked at Jun with fear filled eyes. 

“Don’t worry. Joshua might have sent an angry mob to find us, if we were his target, but we’re in his home now. He won’t do anything stupid.” Jun patted Dino on his shoulder. “Now go, we don’t have much time.”

Dino nodded and took off towards the compound. Jun watched closely as Dino was greeted by the vocal unit. Looking back at the guys, Jun could see the sadness on their faces.

“It’s okay guys. Once we get to Joshua, things will be like they once were.” Jun pulled on his helmet and strapped on his armor.

Looking up, Mingyu gasped, and fell back in shock. Vernon quickly grabbed Mingyu, holding him up.

“What’s going on?” Vernon asked.

“I just, had a flashback.” Mingyu said, sitting up.

“What? About your leg?” Vernon whispered in his ear. “What caused that?”

“I-I think it was Jun...” Mingyu said barley able to speak.

Jun was watching the scene in front of him to make sure nothing out of the blue would throw off their plan, he wasn’t aware of the conversation between Mingyu and Vernon.

“Mingyu, please don’t say things like that.” Vernon was conflicted. He didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t there when Mingyu had been injured so he couldn’t reassure that it wasn’t Jun.

Jun turned around. “Your turn.” He looked at Mingyu.

Getting up, Mingyu nodded at Jun. He slowly made his way towards the fence, with Coups behind him as a lookout.

Vernon waited anxiously as Jun watched Mingyu take out Seungkwan. Turning around Jun looked at Vernon.

“Your turn.” Jun pulled up the plastic cover on his face mask, “You’re going to do great.” He smiled at him.

Taking a deep breath Vernon stood up and began on his mission.

Jun watched as the last man entered the compound. Things were still quiet, and he was relieved about that. He took a deep breath and waited a bit longer.

As he watched Dino approach the front gate, Jun held his breath in anticipation. Joshua came down to greet Dino with a hug and took him into the compound after a brief conversation. That was Jun’s cue to do his thing. After one last check of his armor, he began running through the brush to the back of the compound.

\--Jun POV

Flashback

He hated this. Everything he was forced to do was cruel and inhumane, but his captors didn’t care. Pledis was grooming Joshua to be their puppet, and he was falling for it. The power was getting to his head and there was no way he had a point of return. All Jun could do was sit and watch him self destruct.

He had a secret. He had reunited with the performance team a while ago and had set them up a small farm out of the way from sight. Jun did everything he could to prevent from anyone finding it, protecting the youngest members of his team.

One day while sneaking off from his boot camp training, he made his way to the secret compound unaware he was being followed. As he made his way through the carefully placed camouflage he found his team hiding out in the hut they built.

In the midst of a conversation, Jun heard a branch break in the distance, a sign that he was followed. Pushing the group back into the hut, Jun pulled his gun and hid. He saw Joshua come into view. Joshua was looking around carefully, knowing that Jun was near but couldn’t see anyone. Just as he began to sniff out the hiding spot, another branch snapped, sending Joshua into a hiding position across from Jun.

Things were silent for what felt like minutes, but out of the brush came a tall familiar figure. It was Mingyu. Covering his mouth to hide his gasp, Jun couldn’t believe his eyes. Why was Mingyu alone? What was he doing? Did he follow Jun too? Before Jun could get a better view, Joshua jumped out of the brush to confront Mingyu.

Standing there in full armor, Joshua looked at a vulnerable and unarmed Mingyu. Tensing up, Mingyu could sense he was in trouble. Joshua didn’t hesitate pulling out his gun, pointing it at Mingyu. Pleading for his life, Mingyu put his hands up, closing his eyes preparing for the worst. 

Taking a deep breath Jun slowly pulled out his gun and pulled back the trigger. He didn’t want to shoot, but would if he had to. As the two stared each other down, Joshua pulled back his trigger and gripped the gun with both hands. Not wanting to see anyone die, Jun fired hitting Joshua.

Joshua fell to the ground, and at the same time so did Mingyu grabbing his leg. On his way down, Joshua managed to shoot Mingyu in his leg. Jun quickly ran over to Mingyu putting pressure on his leg. Looking at Joshua, he was laying on the ground unconscious. Jun wasn’t sure if Joshua had actually been shot, but he didn’t care, he was glad to have taken him out.

“It’s okay Mingyu, you’ll be okay.” Jun said not realizing he had said Mingyu’s name.

Hearing his name, Mingyu looked up with a pale face. Who he thought was his shooter, knew who he was. He wasn’t going to wait any longer, he took all of the strength he had and began to run.

Jun started to chase after Mingyu but stopped when he saw a massive mob come through the direction in which Mingyu came. Jun quickly made his way to the hut and moved the performance team to saftey.

\----

Jun knew this compound better than he let anyone know. He had lived here, he had been the one who found it. When things went south Jun fled and made his homestead, that was until Joshua burned it to the ground.

Jun kept a lot of his demons hidden, and for good reason. He felt responsible for all the horrible things Joshua had done, and it all traced back to the day he shot but didn’t kill Joshua. If Jun would have killed him then and there, all of Seventeen would be together right now.

Taking all of this personally, Jun used this as fire to seek vengeance.

As he ran through the back of the compound he quickly jumped the broken fence he had found on patrol one night, and made his way to the power generator. Pulling any wire he could find, Jun managed to cut the compound’s power sending people into a frenzy. Finding a spot to hide, Jun waited knowing that Joshua would send someone to check the power.

He waited a few minutes. The door to the generator room slowly opened, and with this Jun grabbed the person and quickly knocked them out. As he laid the person down, he realized he was looking into the face of Jeonghan.

“Wow, Josh is getting sloppy.” Jun snorted.

This was perfect. He couldn't have planned this any better. Jun’s biggest weapon was passed out in front of him, and he was about to rage war.


End file.
